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Advantage/Disadvantage
While I know that basketball officials use this theory all the time, I had never really heard about it being applied to umpiring. Now out of nowhere this year, I have heard it and read about it many times. The latest came after I called an IP on a pitcher in a Fed game when she made more than 1-1/2 revolutions with her arm. I was describing the incident to another umpire who didn't work this game, and his thought was that if the pitcher wasn't gaining an advantage, he would have let it go.
For me personally, I have never applied advantage/disadvantage to my thought process in making calls. Thinking about it now, I believe that I shouldn't be including it in my thought process. For example, on at least three occasions I have had a runner who badly mistimes the pitcher's motion, and did not maintain contact with the base prior to the release of the pitch. On each occasion, the runner has tried to hold the base, thereby losing all momentum and actually placing themselves at a disadvantage. However, I still called all of them out for leaving the base early.
Am I mistaken in my thinking? As always, I appreciate any thoughts or comments.
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